Obamas hype Harris at Day 2 of DNC
The second night of the Democrats’ national convention in Chicago saw former President Barack Obama and former First Lady Michelle Obama deliver barnburner speeches to a highly partisan crowd eager for the nostalgia of the 44th president’s two terms as the nation’s leader.
The Obamas, who lived in Chicago before taking the national stage, gave ringing endorsements Tuesday (Aug. 20) of Vice-president Kamala Harris’ Presidential bid and laid into former President Donald Trump, the Republican nominee.
Barack Obama said another act of Trump would be worse than his first term.
“We have all seen that movie before, and we all know the sequel is usually worse,” he said, imploring the crowd to keep its focus on winning in November.
“For all the incredible energy we’ve been able to generate over the last few weeks, this will still be a tight race in a closely divided country,” he said. “We shouldn’t be the world’s policeman and we can’t eradicate every cruelty and injustice in the world. But America can and must be a force for good. That’s what Kamala Harris believes, and so do most Americans.”
Barack Obama rattled through a litany of legislative accomplishments from his administration and in the Biden-Harris term, calling on convention goers to elect Harris in order to preserve those victories.
Michelle Obama, whose popularity remains strong, spoke before her husband declaring that for “America, hope is making a comeback” – a play on President Obama’s campaign theme to “keep hope alive.”
She spent less time mentioning policy specifics and more of her talk encouraging Harris supporters to not seek perfection, but to “do something” to help elect the Democratic nominee.
“We cannot get a Goldilocks complex about something not being just right… it is up to us to be the solution,” she said.
The former First Lady also got a dig in on Trump, who recently questioned Harris’ ethnicity of being Black.
“Who’s going to tell him that the job he’s currently seeking might just be one of those ‘Black jobs’?” she said.
Kamala Harris’ husband, Doug Emhoff, provided his personal insight of the Vice-president. Emhoff, a lawyer, discussed his blended family, Harris’ role as a stepmother, and her advocacy and tenacity throughout her career of public service.
“Here’s the thing about joyful warriors: They’re still warriors. And Kamala is as tough as it comes. Just as the criminals, global gangsters, and witnesses before the Senate Judiciary Committee have seen… she is exactly the right president,” Emhoff said.
Other events of the night at the convention included a high-energy roll call vote of the states and speakers involved with Republicans for Harris. John Giles, the Republican Mayor of Mesa, Arizona, explained why he’s voting for Harris, a Democrat.
“I’m a lifelong Republican, but I feel more at home here than in today’s Republican Party. The Grand Old Party has been kidnapped by extremists and devolved into a cult. The cult of Donald Trump,” Giles said.